Which to use
“old” is an adjective and “ort” is a preposition - they look or sound alike but fill different roles in a sentence.
- #11,277
- “old” frequency rank
- #43,156
- “ort” frequency rank
- 54433
- confusion score
Side-by-Side Comparison
| Feature | old | ort |
|---|---|---|
| Definition | Viejo, anciano. | Forma combinada de la preposición ar y el pronombre personal de segunda persona singular. |
Where the spellings diverge
Shared letters are muted; the letters that actually set old and ort apart are highlighted. They share 1 letter in sequence, which is exactly why the eye skips the difference.
Spelling & Dictionary Insight
These two trip readers on the page rather than in the ear: old is /ˈəʊld/ while ort is [ɔɾˠt̪ˠ]. Spoken aloud the problem disappears. In writing it persists, because they share most of their letters but differ in 2 positions, and the parts of speech differ too (adjective vs preposition), which is usually the fastest check. Our composite confusion score for this pair is 54433, derived from the frequency rank of both members and their visual similarity.
old is recorded at frequency rank #11,277, classified as anadj, pronounced /ˈəʊld/. ort is at rank #43,156, tagged as aprep, pronounced [ɔɾˠt̪ˠ].
Glosses for this pair are partially populated in our dataset, but the full side-by-side definitions above should still guide you to the right choice.
With a confusion score of 54433, this pair ranks #83,322 of 323,831 scored Spanish confusable pairs - roughly mid-pack for confusability.
Orthographic DNA of old vs ort
Shared letters: o. Private to "old": dl. Private to "ort": rt.
"old" · 3 letters · shape VCC · "ort" · 3 letters · shape VCC